MTN 30-Year Timeline

From Satellite Technology Pioneer to Industry Leader: MTN Celebrates 30 Years of Innovation

MTN is proud to be celebrating its 30th year in the satellite communications industry. Over the past three decades, MTN has contributed greatly to the evolution of the satellite industry and continues to deliver communications solutions that address the needs of today's end users - both commercial and government.

Since its founding in 1981, MTN has delivered innovative satellite communications solutions including:

1980s

  • MTN was founded in 1981 and built its state-of-the-art 10,000 square foot teleport facility on Telegraph Hill in Holmdel, NJ, the same location where Marconi sent the first transatlantic radio transmission. The MTN Holmdel teleport was designed to support the transmission needs of government agencies, ISPs, television broadcasters, cable programmers, carriers, business television and radio. The teleport also provides important network redundancy in emergency situations.

  • MTN gained a foothold into the government and military sector by having built the first Intelsat approved 5-meter C-Band transportable satellite antenna made to travel with the presidential administration for Summit meetings and Pentagon press pool required events.

  • Delivered the industry’s first stabilized, “transmit and receive” Ku-Band satellite antenna system for the U.S. Navy deployed on the USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2) during the first Persian Gulf crisis.

  • Soon after, MTN introduced its technology to the public sector to meet the increased need for reliable, global VSAT communication systems, which included having built the first Intelsat approved C-Band & Ku-Band hybrid transportable truck for ‘on-the-move’ communications. The hybrid system delivered service to the American news media for President Reagan’s inauguration in 1985.

  • Through a joint venture with SeaTel, the MTN VSAT product was developed for a 6-month trial period on Norwegian Cruise Line’s M/S Seaward ship and shortly after, for Carnival Cruise Line. The product, at the time, delivered a 64 Kb duplex SCPC channel. It provided 8 voice/fax lines at a speedy synchronous 9.6 Kb data channel to connect the ships’ IBM AS-400 computers in real-time to corporate headquarters, which was never before possible. The success of these project trials officially launched the company into the maritime business.

1990s

  • Through MTN’s VSAT technology, the company successfully introduced the first onboard Internet Café for cruise ships at sea.

  • MTN’s growing footprint in the maritime industry expanded in providing VSAT technology and solutions to the oceanographic and maritime research community worldwide, such as delivering the first live commercial C-Band video and data uplink from a moving vessel for Dr. Robert D. Ballard, chairman of The JASON Project, and explorer-in-residence with the National Geographic Society.

  • MTN was the first to partner with national cable networks to deliver leading world news and major events coverage from remote locations. MTN continued to contribute its technology expertise for the U.S. Television Broadcast Community, delivering live uplinks of morning talk shows, live TV series and special events from moving ships at sea for ABC, NBC, CBS as well as various foreign broadcasters.

  • Applied and received the FCC’s first Pioneer Preference License for the installation and operation of Earth Stations on Vessels (ESV). Soon after, MTN petitioned the FCC for rulemaking to regulate the new industry of potential ESV operators.

2000s

  • Designed and built the famous “Bloom-mobile” for NBC’s Today Show anchor David Bloom to provide live coverage of the historic Iraq invasion. This one-of-a-kind project involved mounting a 200 Watt stabilized 1.2 meter Ku-Band antenna on a Ford 450 4WD diesel truck, allowing full-motion broadcasts while moving at speeds up to 70 mph across the desert. The “Bloom-mobile” was later dispatched to North Carolina for live coverage of Hurricane Isabel in 2003 and later that year, covered the final stages of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s run for office.

  • Provided a live satellite uplink for ABC’s Good Morning America from a U.S. Navy submarine cruising 50 feet below the surface out in the mid-Atlantic ocean. This was the first in the industry and also included live cellular telephone connections back to the submarine for Interrupt Feed Back (IFB) connections and producer coordination lines from under the ocean.

  • Built a redundant satellite communications array consisting of two unilateral stabilized antennas providing Ku-Band uplinks from a moving train for ABC’s Good Morning America whistle-stop tour of the U.S. during the presidential election in 2008. This was the industry’s first dual stabilized train mounted 1.2 Meter Ku-Band, high-powered full motion (live) video satellite antennas.

  • From its expertise in delivering live news coverage from remote locations, MTN introduced MTN Worldwide TV, the cruise industry’s first multichannel global television service. MTN Worldwide TV offers passengers and crew access to live programming channels from BBC World News, CNBC, MSNBC, E! Entertainment Television, Fox News, Sky News and Sky Sports News. MTN Worldwide TV has successfully grown to deliver programming to more than 54 cruise ships in over 44,000 passenger cabins.

  • To meet the increased demands of its growing customer base around the world, MTN and its technology partner, Erzia, developed and officially opened the Santander International Teleport located in northern Spain to serve commercial and government users, which routes MTN’s core business for C-Band and Ku-Band in the Middle East and IOR regions.

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